


Raising Right

by Jcapasso916



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-15
Updated: 2016-05-22
Packaged: 2018-06-08 15:01:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 17,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6859807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jcapasso916/pseuds/Jcapasso916
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The trickster is walking down an alley when he sees a child beaten nearly to death. He strikes up a rapport with the kid and makes a deal, only to find that he's talking to a Winchester. Too bad he couldn't have figured that out sooner.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't decided yet if Sam and Gabriel are going to get together romantically in this story, but if it does happen it won't be until Sam is at least of age.

The trickster was walking down a dark alley just whistling a tune. He wasn’t entirely sure what alley his current mark was waiting in, but he knew it was in this area. He wasn’t known for his patience at all, but when it came to things like this, he tapped into a heretofore nonexistent well of patience. He still had a few more alleys to try after this one, but little did he know, he wouldn’t make it there tonight. His whistled tune cut off as he nearly stumbled to a stop at the sight in front of him. Had his mark already struck?

Amber eyes traced the child’s body, taking in the injuries; fractured skull, broken nose, cracked jaw, dislocated shoulder, three broken ribs, one puncturing a lung, some internal bleeding, a leg broken in three places and a dozen other more minor cuts and contusions. This was far more serious than his current mark was capable of. He didn’t usually go after children either. The trickster looked around again and he could see the drag marks from the other end of the alley, but they didn’t look like anyone else had dragged the kid. They looked like he’d been trying to drag himself. There was a hospital about a block away. Maybe he had been trying to get there. That took some serious determination. 

He couldn’t get the vision of the kid’s soul out of his head either. It was just so bright and pure. Most children’s souls were really, but his took it to a whole new level. It was intoxicating to look at. It was this that convinced him not to just turn and walk away. “You need some help to the hospital kid? Maybe someone to call your parents?” he asked seeing that the boy was still conscious. 

The kid had started to nod at the suggestion of the hospital, but the trickster could tell the signs of panic when he mentioned calling his parents. He didn’t like what that implied. “Your parents do this to you?” he asked. Out of all the people he brought to justice, those who hurt their own children were the ones that gave him the most satisfaction. He got a fearful nod from the boy and he sighed heavily in return. If he took the kid to the hospital they would definitely call his parents. Unless he put himself down as the boy’s parent and then he would be stuck caring for a recovering child, and that’s if they didn’t try to grab him for child abuse after seeing his injuries. There was only one thing to do. 

He reached down and ran a hand over the back of the boy’s head, healing the skull fracture, before moving his hand around and trailing it down the side of his face, palm healing the jaw, and thumb trailing down the broken nose leaving healing in its wake. His hand then moved over the child’s shoulder and then over to his chest and stomach. He broke contact with his hand for the first time at that point and replaced it on the boy’s leg, running it down the entire length. There were still a few bruises he didn’t get, but that was for later. He’d gotten the serious stuff and now the boy was looking at him wide-eyed. “A-are you an-an angel?” he asked. 

The trickster barely managed to keep steady at that question. He knew where it came from. The human belief that angels came to people in distress and healed them and helped them. He also knew that children believed that far more often than adults. Still though, it almost seemed like this kid could see right through him. He apparently wasn’t finished speaking yet though. “I prayed. I pray a lot. To-to god and to angels. Mostly Gabriel. He’s my favorite. He’s talked about a lot in the bible and the pastor we used to stay with had a St. Gabriel medallion that he gave me once. Dad threw it away though,” he said sadly. 

“Whoa. Easy there kid,” the trickster said desperate for him to stop speaking. He was getting more and more uncomfortable with every word out of the kid’s mouth. There was no way he could answer that question or the subsequent ramblings with anything approaching honesty, so he took a different tact. Deflection. “I’m a trickster.” Technically true. He had taken on this persona long ago and it was more a part of him than his original identity had ever been. He reached out a hand for the boy and pulled him to his feet. “You got somewhere else to go?” he asked. 

“No, but that’s okay. I can take care of myself. What’s a trickster?” he asked curiously. 

“A trickster teaches people who do wrong amusing and embarrassing lessons. I’m sure you can take care of yourself, but if anyone sees you out and about by yourself they won’t believe it and you’ll get chucked into a foster home or sent back to your parents.”

“Just my dad. My mom died when I was a baby. What kind of lessons? Do you kill people?” 

The trickster’s mouth quirked. He was rather enjoying the kid’s ability to keep up with two different conversations at the same time. He had a quick mind which was very rare for someone so young. “Lessons that will hopefully keep them from doing wrong again. I only kill them when they kill other people and won’t stop. When leaving them alive kills more people, then I kill them. I can see if I can help find you somewhere to go,” he offered. He was getting rather attached to this one. 

“That’s not so bad. A good reason to kill someone I think. Can I stay with you?” The trickster blinked in shock. He really shouldn’t have been surprised he had saved the kid, healed him, talked to him, and they had built a bit of a rapport, but the idea of raising a kid was rather shocking. “I won’t be any trouble and I really can take care of myself. I guess I just need an adult to point to every so often and say that they’re with me so people don’t try to send me somewhere else, like you said.”

The trickster narrowed his eyes curiously at the boy. “How old are you?” He would guess somewhere around nine or ten. Far too young to have any idea what was waiting for him in the world. 

He was surprised, however, when the boy said, “Twelve,” and he raised an eyebrow trying to discern if he was telling the truth. “I know I’m small for my age, but I really am twelve,” he said only slightly petulant but with an air of authority. He was trying to prove to this man…trickster…that he was mature. 

“I’ll tell you what. You tell me who your father is that did this to you, and preferably where I can find him, and I’ll let you stick with me for a while,” he bargained. He would love to get his hands on a child abuser. He noticed the kid’s hesitation so he tried to reassure him. He wasn’t sure if the hesitation was from fear or from some misguided sense of loyalty though. “Look kid. I won’t let him touch you ever again and I won’t kill him. Just teach him a little lesson.”

“Sam,” the boy said. “My name is Sam. Not kid.” He got an amused smirk and a polite nod from the trickster so he continued. “My brother. He’s older. Dad doesn’t hit him, but he doesn’t know that dad hits me. He would freak if he found out. He’s really great so don’t hurt him?”

“If he’s done nothing wrong then he has nothing to fear from me. You have my word, Sam,” the trickster said honestly. 

“And you said I could stay with you for a while. How long is a while?” 

“Let’s say we give it a year and then revaluate. If we’re both still happy with the arrangement it can continue. If not, I can help you find somewhere else that will fit you better or we can just go our separate ways.”

“John Winchester. Black Widow motel. Room 39,” Sam said accepting the arrangement. 

The trickster pinched the bridge of his nose and almost couldn’t suppress his outburst. He knew that wouldn’t go over well with the boy though so he managed. Curse his curiosity and his compassion. Now he had just struck a deal to take care of his brother’s vessel. How did he get himself into these things?


	2. Chapter 2

The trickster placed a hand on Sam’s shoulder and they appeared in a modest apartment. “You look exhausted. Bedroom’s through there. Why don’t you go crash while I take care of some business and then I’ll get you a room set up for tomorrow?” he suggested. 

“I…um…I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep while you’re…you know,” Sam said hesitantly. 

The trickster gave an unconcerned shrug. “Fair enough. Feel free to watch the tv or rummage for some food or whatever until I get back then.”

“What are you going to do to him?” Sam asked nervously. 

“I don’t know yet. Depends on how much remorse he feels, whether he meant to take things so far, what his intentions are going forward and so on. I’ll decide when I get a look at his mind.” 

“Just…don’t hurt him too much?” Sam asked hopefully. 

“We’ll see kiddo.”

“Wait!” Sam called before the trickster could snap his fingers and disappear. “What’s your name?” 

He was met with a smug smirk. “You can call me Loki,” he said as he finished the snap and Sam was left alone in the apartment. 

 

Loki reappeared in room 39 of the Black Widow Motel, completely invisible to find a teenager frantically dialing a number, then hanging up, then dialing again, and repeating the process. It was only a moment before an older man that Loki assumed to be John Winchester entered the room. “Dad! Sam isn’t back yet and he’s not answering his phone.”

“He probably just lost it again. You know how those things are always falling out of your bags. I swear I wish they made them smaller.”

“Well yeah, but it’s almost midnight and he’s not back yet,” Dean said worriedly. 

“Your brother can take care of himself. He probably just ran away again. We’ll go looking for him in the morning,” John said firmly inviting no argument on the issue. 

Dean bit his lip, terrified for his little brother. He always was when Sam ran away and he swore that if that’s what this was he would tear the kid a new one. Again. Loki pulled out of the brother’s mind. He saw all he needed to see. He had no idea what was happening to his brother and would likely have killed his father for daring to touch a hair on Sam’s head. He might even let the kid call his brother once he had the dad covered, just so he didn’t worry himself sick. He would consider that in a few minutes. 

He turned his attention to John Winchester and what he found made him snarl. Oh it could have been worse. Loki had seen far worse depravities visited by fathers upon their sons, but it wasn’t nearly so innocent as a one-time punishment gotten out of hand. This man was a control freak of the highest order and little Sammy didn’t much like being controlled. There had been more than once that the kid had been injured, on a hunt as far as the brother knew. It had never gone this far before, but John Winchester had very little remorse. He blamed his younger son for it even. He blamed his younger son for a lot actually. Including the death of his mother. 

Seeing that the man had already climbed into bed, Loki snapped his fingers and the man drifted off to sleep. If he was going to call the brother, he definitely didn’t want dear old dad awake for it. He wouldn’t wake until morning and then he would find the consequences of his actions. 

 

Loki appeared back in his apartment to find Sam sitting in front of the television, but he could tell the kid had no idea what was even on. He noticed that Sam hadn’t found anything to eat either. “Not hungry?” he asked. 

“What did you do to him?” Sam asked. 

“When he wakes up in the morning he will feel all the injuries that he inflicted on you, though they won’t actually be there. It’ll just feel like they are. They will heal in the same timeframe that yours would have if I hadn’t healed you. Fair enough for you?” Loki asked. He would have preferred to give him something a little stronger, but Sam had asked for mercy and so he granted it. 

“And…and Dean?” Sam asked. 

“You were right. He had no idea and he is worried sick about you. I did nothing at all to him, and was thinking of calling him and telling him what happened and that you’re okay if that’s good with you,” Loki told him. 

“You’ll call him or can I?” Sam asked. 

“I’ll call him and explain. I know you’ll probably play it off like it’s no big deal, but then you can talk to him after. Deal?” Loki was well familiar with how abused children always rationalized and down-played the abuse and he had no intention of allowing that. Not for a minute. Sam would sit right there next to him while he explained to the brother too so he could hear just how bad it was and hopefully snap him out of the cycle. Loki didn’t believe in coddling children in that way or trying to hide the truth. They needed to face it and move on. 

Sam nodded so Loki pulled a phone and called the motel room. Dean answered on the first ring. “Sammy?” 

“I’m not your brother, but I found him. He was hurt pretty bad but he’ll be okay,” Loki started to explain.

“What the hell did you do to my brother? I swear if you hurt a hair on his head…” Dean yelled. 

“Whoa. Easy cowboy. I didn’t hurt him. I helped him. If you wanna know who hurt him you should look at your father.”

“Dad? He wouldn’t…”

“When I found him lying in the alley he had a fractured skull, a broken nose, a cracked jaw, a dislocated shoulder, three broken ribs, a punctured lung, some internal bleeding, and his right leg was broken in three places. Your father beat him because he didn’t want to leave town yet. Something about a field trip for school next week? He got a little ‘mouthy’ as he called it and your father went to town. If I hadn’t found him, he would have died in that alley.”

“Let me talk to him,” Dean said heatedly. Loki could tell that Dean wasn’t sure whether or not to believe him but he knew that nothing he could say would convince him so he handed the phone to Sam. 

“Dean!” Sam said happily. 

“Sammy! Did you hear what all he said?” Dean asked. 

“Yeah,” Sam said sadly. 

“Is it true?” 

“Well I can’t say with the exact injuries. He’d know better than I would, but everything else yeah.” Sam winced as he heard crashing and cursing coming over the phone. 

Loki could well guess what was going on after getting a small taste of the brother’s temper when he first answered the phone so he quickly pulled the phone from Sam’s grasp and waited patiently for the fit to pass. When the noise stopped he said wryly, “Yes because that’s exactly what your brother needed to hear after his ordeal was another lost temper.”

He could practically see Dean deflate as he sighed. “Shit,” the teenager said breathlessly. 

“Don’t worry. I took the phone away after the first wince, so he didn’t hear much,” Loki assured him. 

“I…um…thanks,” Dean said hesitantly. “And you’re…um…taking care of him? He’s healing up and all? Has he seen a doctor? Or are you a doctor?”

“I’m taking care of him. He’s healing up. I didn’t take him to the hospital because they would have called his father and after what he told me, I gathered that wouldn’t be the best idea, but I assure you that I am well qualified to see to his healing on my own,” Loki was well acquainted with skirting the truth and he knew that he was implying that he was a doctor. 

“I want to see him,” Dean said firmly. 

“I don’t want to risk your father knowing where he is,” Loki replied. 

“I’ll sneak out before dad wakes up. I can bring Sam’s stuff with me too. He’d probably like to have it while he’s healing. And I can pick up anything else you need on the way too. I mean, you probably can’t leave him too long in that condition,” Dean was starting to babble. He was still slightly worried about this stranger, but he’d had enough wool ripped off of his eyes that he would give this guy the benefit of the doubt until he saw otherwise. Sam didn’t seem to be afraid of him at least. If he didn’t let him see Sam though, all bets would be off. 

“Alright,” Loki said resignedly. “584 Circle St Apartment 12.” It would be nice for Sam to have his things. Loki should have thought to grab them earlier, but he’d had a lot on his mind. 

“Can I talk to Sam again?” Dean asked. 

“Sure,” Loki said turning to the boy only to stop. “Actually it looks like he’s fallen asleep.”

“Okay. Yeah. I’m sure he needs his rest. I’ll be there in the morning.” It seemed like the man was really going to let him talk to Sam until he noticed that he was asleep so he would let it go for now. It wasn’t until they got off the phone that Dean realized that he hadn’t gotten a phone number or even the guy’s name.


	3. Chapter 3

Loki snapped his fingers, transferring Sam to his bed. He would work on getting a room for Sam tomorrow. He was going to do so tonight, but decided he would let the kid give his input on what he wanted. Loki didn’t technically need to sleep, but since he couldn’t exactly go out and leave a sleeping kid for too long, he decided that he might as well. He stretched out on the couch and closed his eyes. He could have changed the couch into a bed, but he figured that with Dean coming by in the morning, it might gain him some credibility by showing a slept on couch. 

Loki woke himself around six am. He wasn’t sure what time Dean was planning to come by but he suspected that it would be early. He headed to the kitchen to start cooking. He found the entire process relaxing and enjoyable. Something about creating things with his own two hands that were greater than the sum of their parts. It was almost like human magic, and it tasted oh so good. He was just pouring the first pancake on the griddle when he heard the knock at the door. “It’s open,” he called out as he started layering the chocolate chips into the pancake before pouring out five more, the most that could fit on the griddle and putting chocolate chips in those too.

Dean stepped inside tentatively and took a good look around. The first thing he noticed was the slept on couch and Sam nowhere in sight and he correctly assumed that this guy gave Sam his bed and slept on the couch. That alone was enough to win points with the protective older brother. Otherwise it looked like a nice place. Nothing out of the ordinary really. He stepped over to the kitchen area and said, “I’m Dean,” holding out his hand. 

“Lo,” he introduced himself by a shortened version of his name. He would tell Dean what he was eventually he was sure. He would have to in order to explain Sam’s quick healing. But he could keep the peace for as long as he could. 

“Where’s Sam?” 

“Still sleeping. I was gonna go wake him once breakfast was ready,” Loki told him. 

Dean glanced down at the griddle as Loki was laying out the bacon in the skillet. “You know Sam’s not gonna eat that right?” he asked amused. 

“What do you mean?” Loki asked confused. “They’re chocolate chip pancakes. He’s a kid. It’s foolproof.”

“He doesn’t eat sweets. He’ll eat pancakes, but only with fruit and no syrup,” Dean told him. Loki scrunched his nose up in disgust. “I know right?”

Loki just gave a shrug as he flipped the pancakes. “Oh well. I have enough batter for a few more. I don’t have any fruit though so I guess he’ll just have to eat them plain.”

“Good thing I thought ahead,” Dean said with a laugh, pulling a bunch of bananas out of the duffel bag. “I figured you probably weren’t familiar with Sammy’s weird eating habits so it couldn’t hurt to be prepared.” 

Loki nodded gratefully. “Why don’t you start slicing them up then while I finish the rest. He does eat bacon though right?” 

“Sure. He loves bacon.”

“Oh good. I was getting worried he might be an alien or something,” Loki joked getting a heavy laugh from Dean. 

Loki popped the current pancakes onto two plates and slid one over to Dean as he put on three more…well two and a half with the batter he had left…for Sam. It seemed like sacrilege to him to not add chocolate to it, but he managed to restrain himself. By the time he flipped Sam’s the bacon was ready so he scooped that onto three plates just as Sam came stumbling out of the bedroom rubbing his eyes sleepily. The sliced bananas were on a small plate next to Loki and Dean had already taken a few bites of his pancakes by then and he looked up at Sam and then back to Loki and back to Sam before dropping his fork and rushing to his brother putting himself between Sam and Loki. 

“What the hell is going on here? Sam is fine,” Dean asked suspiciously. 

Loki sighed. He probably should have thought this out better. “Just sit down and eat and I promise I’ll explain.”

“It’s okay Dean. Really,” Sam said as he stepped around his brother and sat in the open seat just in time for Loki to slide his own plate of plain pancakes topped with sliced bananas over to him. “How did you know?” Sam asked gratefully. 

“Thank your brother. If it weren’t for him you’d have chocolate like the rest of us,” Loki said with a smile. 

“Thanks Dean,” Sam said as he started eating. 

Dean hadn’t resumed eating yet, leveling a steady glare at Loki, waiting for the promised explanation. “Sam is fine now because I healed him,” Loki said. 

“What are you?” Dean asked trying to reach covertly for his bag on the floor next to him. 

Loki just twitched a finger and the bag slid across the floor away from the hunter causing him to scramble fearfully to his feet. “Oh relax. If I had any intention of hurting either of you, you’d already know it. To answer your question, I’m a trickster.”

“A what?” Dean asked narrowing his eyes. 

“A trickster. Sort of a cosmic prankster. I take people who’ve done bad things and teach them lessons they won’t soon forget,” he said with a smug smirk. 

Dean kinda liked the prankster part and the fact that he was targeting bad people for pranks. “So you don’t kill people?” he had to be sure. 

“Only when I have to,” Loki told him. 

“So wait…the guy who died a few days ago…” Dean started putting pieces together for why they had stuck around so long in the first place. 

“When the police search his house for clues they will find the bodies of nine women buried in his basement. As long as he was alive he would have continued to kill. By taking him out of the equation I’ve saved all of his future victims. Can you really tell me that’s a bad thing?” 

“So that’s the only time you kill? When they kill other people?” Dean asked.

“If they kill other people intentionally and will continue to do so. If it’s an accident and there is a chance they won’t repeat it, they’re safe…well not safe per se. They still get taught a lesson, but they will live to learn it.”

Dean thought about it for a moment. His father would have said it didn’t matter. That this thing wasn’t human would be enough of a reason for it to die. The fact that it was hurting and even killing people, no matter the reason would be the cincher. Dean was done listening to his father though. After what that bastard had done to Sammy, he could go screw himself, and this guy was making a lot of sense. “So Lo is short for…”

“Loki,” the trickster god said with a theatrical bow. “Norse god of chaos and mischief.”

“Cool,” Dean said sitting back down and taking another bite of his pancakes. Now that he knew what Loki was and what their dad had done he made a pretty good guess that Loki had gotten involved there. “So what’d you do to dad?” 

“He will feel every injury that I healed from Sam last night. More than just the pain. He will have the blurred vision and nausea from the head injury. He will have trouble breathing from the punctured lung. He’ll have the dizziness from the blood loss. But the injuries won’t be there. Any doctor that he goes to see will tell him it’s all in his head. And they will heal at the same rate they would have healed on Sam if I hadn’t intervened. The only difference is he won’t be able to die from the injuries like Sam would have.”

Dean thought about it for a second and nodded. “I like it. I would have expected something a little more though.” Dean wasn’t sure why he would have expected more. Maybe some part of his brain was connecting the other odd things that had been happening in town. Maybe he was still subconsciously thinking of Loki as a monster. Maybe it was because Loki was so much more powerful and could have done so much more. 

“I thought about it, but Sammy here asked for mercy, so I let him off easy.”

“You wanted mercy? After what he did to you?” Dean asked his brother incredulously. 

“It wasn’t all his fault,” Sam said looking down at his plate. 

Loki was about to say something but took a step back when he saw the storm brewing on Dean’s face. He would be far more likely to listed to his brother. “What do you mean it wasn’t all his fault?” 

“I shouldn’t have mouthed off to him. I always mess everything up. I even got mom killed,” Sam said with a shrug. “I can’t blame him for hating me.”

Loki could see the signs that Dean was just about to completely blow and as much as Sam needed to hear what Dean was going to say, he didn’t need to hear it that way so Loki snapped his fingers and froze Sam. Dean spun to look at him angrily. “He doesn’t need to see you lose your temper. So go ahead and rage, break things, whatever. Once you’re calm I’ll fix it and then you can tell him all the stuff he needs to hear.”

Dean didn’t need to be told twice. By the time his temper had cooled, half the room was in shambles and Dean looked around sheepishly. Loki just waved a hand and everything was put back to rights. “Sit back down and I’ll unfreeze your brother.” 

Dean nodded and said, “Thanks Loki.” 

As soon as he noticed Sam moving again, Dean put on the sternest face and voice he could manage and said, “That is the biggest load of crap I’ve ever heard, Sammy. You. Did. Not. Get. Mom. Killed. Let’s get that straight right off the bat. I was there too. I remember that night. It was the demon that killed her. Not you. Understand?” 

“But…”

“No. It wasn’t your fault and dad is a complete asshole for even thinking about putting that on you. You got me?” Sam gave a reluctant nod. “And of course you mess things up. And of course you get mouthy sometimes. You’re a kid. It’s in the job description. That’s no excuse for what he did. Not at all.” Dean suddenly got a thought and he really hoped he was wrong. “Has this happened before? Has he hit you before?” 

“S-sometimes,” Sam said. 

“Why didn’t you ever tell me Sammy? I was supposed to take care of you. To protect you.”

“You couldn’t protect be from dad, and he…he told me not to tell. Said it would be even worse if I ever told you. When it was bad enough that it couldn’t be hidden he said it happened on a hunt.”

Loki could tell Dean was getting pissed again, but it wouldn’t be a big explosion so he would let it be. He couldn’t protect Sam from everything after all. Dean got up and pushed his chair roughly back under the table. “Damnit Sam. These are the things I need to know. I could sure as hell protect you from him even if it meant taking off with you somewhere he’d never find us. It was my job!” Dean said heatedly. 

“It shouldn’t have been your job,” Sam said sadly. 

“Sam’s right,” Loki made his first foray into the conversation. He could see that John Winchester had done a pretty good number on the older brother too. “It should have been John’s job to protect both of you. No child should have that kind of burden.”

“I’m not a child anymore,” Dean said with a glare. 

“And how old were you when you started taking responsibility for your brother?” Loki asked pointedly. He had no intention of getting into the argument of whether or not sixteen was still a child. In his day sixteen had been grown anyway. 

Dean didn’t say anything to that, knowing that Loki had a point.


	4. Chapter 4

Once they were done with breakfast, Sam and Dean took it upon themselves to do the dishes, much to Loki’s surprise. He could have just snapped them clean, and was about to before they had taken over. He just shrugged and let them get on with it while he plopped down on the couch and turned on the television. It wasn’t long before Dean’s giant mobile phone started to ring. He glared at it for a minute before answering. He knew exactly who was calling. “Screw you, you bastard and don’t you ever talk to me again,” he said hanging up the phone immediately afterward. 

When the phone rang again, Dean ignored it. And the next time. And the next. Finally, he picked it up again. “What?” he snarled. 

“What has gotten into you boy?” John Winchester said from the other end. 

“What’s gotten into me? You think you can beat my baby brother nearly to death, after hiding from me how you’ve been beating him for years, and still have me follow orders like a good little soldier? I’m done with you.”

“The hell you are. You get your ass back here. I need some help,” John said and Dean could now hear the pain in his voice as he remembered what Loki had done to him. 

“I’m sure you do. Well you can just manage on your own just like you left Sammy to manage on his own. Have fun with that,” Dean said smugly, hanging up again and turning the phone completely off. 

Sam was looking at Dean like he couldn’t believe what had just happened. It was to be expected. Dean had always followed every order from Dad like it had been the gospel, and would never have dreamed of talking back to him. Dean saw the look and gave an embarrassed shrug. “No one messes with my little brother,” he said by way of an explanation only to be nearly tackled in a hug from Sam. 

Loki watched with a smile, mind going back to a time when his brothers used to look out for him…and each other…like that. That smile faded though as he remembered their fate and was reminded of what fate awaited these two. 

“Well we should get out of this town just in case Dad manages to track us down,” Dean said. “Thanks for everything Loki.”

Now Loki had no issue with them leaving, but he and Sam had made a deal and he wouldn’t be a trickster if he didn’t try to get something out of them for breaking it. “Sam and I had a deal. He’s supposed to stick with me for at least a year.”

Dean looked torn for a moment before he settled on a compromise. “Ok. Then maybe I could stay with you too.” There was no way he was going to be separated from his brother and the more he thought about it the more he liked the idea. I mean, it wasn’t like Loki was a proper adult. He was a trickster. He could just imagine how much fun it would be to hang with a trickster. Plus, he couldn’t deny that things would be easier if he was closer to eighteen when they set out. 

“Wait…huh?” Loki asked dumbfounded. This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. 

“Yeah. It’ll be great. You can teach us all about pranking…”

“But you…”

“And we can be like your assistants…”

“I don’t need…

“We’ll help you find people who need to be taught a lesson.”

“I can…”

“We’re good at research you know. Especially Sammy here.”

“I’m sure…”

“We can be like, tricksters-in-training.”

“You’re not…”

“We’ll be like…a team.”

“But…”

“The three tricksters. Get it? Like the three musketeers or the three amigos?”

“Ok fine,” Loki said wearily pinching the bridge of his nose. He should have known better than to bring it up. He should have just let them go. His greed was, as usual, his downfall. 

“Awesome!” Dean said happily giving his laughing brother a high five. 

“I need a drink,” Loki groaned snapping up a fruity cocktail as he leaned back on the couch draining half of it in one go. 

“Hey! Can I have one?” Dean asked hopefully. 

“No,” Loki deadpanned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short one but I can't stop laughing long enough to write any more right this moment so here you go.


	5. Chapter 5

Loki downed the rest of his drink and looked at the boys. “Ok so Deano’s idea was still a good one. If I’m keeping you two around, we need to skip town pronto.”

“Well, assuming that you’re what we were hunting, Dad’s pretty close to finding you anyway so it’s probably a good idea to skedaddle anyway,” Dean told him. 

Loki rolled his eyes. “Oh please. Like any hunter could hurt me. I’ve gone against far better hunters than John Winchester could ever hope to be. Usually I just put on a little show, let them think they killed me just to give them a reason to move on, but in this case…yeah. Let’s go.” He snapped his fingers and the three of them, bags and all, appeared in yet another apartment.

Sam sighed sadly. It seemed he was doomed to always be stuck moving around from place to place. Loki saw that and decided to nip this in the bud. If he had to set up a primary residence to work from to keep the kid happy then he would, but he’d really rather not. “Ok Sam-a-lam. Let’s have a little talk and see if we can work out your issues about moving around so much.” 

Sam winced. He hadn’t meant to seem ungrateful and he knew that even if he left with Dean it would still be the same way. “It’s okay. I get it. I can deal.” At least he was pretty sure Loki wouldn’t make him study and/or hunt monsters, or hit him, or just be a jerk in general. All in all he was much better off than he had been yesterday. 

“I’m sure you can kiddo, but if we can figure out why you hate it, maybe we can fix it,” Loki pointed out and patted the couch next to him to get Sam to sit down. 

“It’s just…always being the new kid sucks,” Sam said petulantly. 

“Sure. I guess it can. But it doesn’t have to. If you’re gonna be a trickster in training you gotta learn to embrace that stuff. Pop in, play a few pranks on some deserving assholes, and move on to the next town and the next deserving assholes. Plus, once people realize that you’ll stand up to the bullys for them, they’ll love you. You just gotta walk in there like you own the place and people will flock to you,” Loki told him. 

“You really think so?” Sam asked hopefully. 

“I’m sure of it.”

“But won’t I get in trouble for playing pranks? Whether the person deserves it or not?” Sam asked nervously. 

“Well the trick is not getting caught. That’ll be lesson one. But even if you do get caught, you might get in trouble with the school, but not with me. They call me to pick you up and we’ll go out for ice cream or to the fair or something and I’ll just tell you good job. You might get a little ‘and how could we have done this without getting caught’ quiz, but it’s all in good fun.”

“But that’ll look bad for colleges,” Sam pointed out. 

“Colleges only start paying attention once you hit high school. You still have a couple years before they’ll care. If you’re still sticking with me by then, we can revisit that issue. This is the time to have fun and screw the rest of the world,” Loki told him. “Besides. I can fake any records you want.” 

“It’s hard to learn things too because everybody’s always learning different stuff so I’m either repeating or skipping ahead.”

“Well if you like to learn so much I can teach you a lot more than school ever could,” Loki told him.

“I mean stuff like math and science and history and stuff,” Sam told him. 

“Yeah. I understood that much,” Loki said amused. “I’ve been around for all of history. I’ve watched math and science develop from the very first ideas. No human in existence could possibly know as much as I do about any of those subjects so don’t worry so much about learning at school. Go to school to have fun. I can teach you anything else you wanna know.”

“So just to be clear, we have to go to school but you don’t care what we do there?” Dean asked. He wouldn’t mind going to school if he could just goof off and play pranks all day without having to worry about getting in trouble at home. 

“I won’t be too happy about any fights or anything. We have more civilized ways of solving problems in this household. Like exploding toilets, slick floors, public nudity, etc.” Neither of the boys were able to keep a straight face at the idea of those things being civilized, but they got the point. “And make sure you’re targeting the right people. Get the bullies. Don’t be the bullies. Or if you must be a bully, bully the bullies. Got it?” 

“I…think so?” Sam said as he tried to wrap his head around what was said. 

“Good. So any other concerns?” 

“Aliases?” Dean asked. He was well familiar with their use and had heard their father complaining more than once about how difficult they were to procure. Somehow he doubted Loki would have that problem though. 

“Just tell me what names you wanna use whenever we hit a new town and I can take care of everything with a snap of my fingers.”

“Now. What say we go get you boys registered for school hmm?” Loki suggested. He would teach them some great pranks that could be done the human way and how not to get caught. He figured they would be getting caught quite a bit for a while though. It took time to learn finesse. 

Sure enough it was only a few days later when he was called to school about Sam. He sat in the principal’s office as Sam was brought in. The kid was a quick study though, that was for sure. Loki could easily tell that he was just pretending to be contrite, but he could see the hint of smugness underneath. He doubted anyone else could tell though. He was just well acquainted with that look from countless people over the millennia. 

“Mr. Tyler. I’ve called you in to discuss Sam’s behavior. He was caught putting chili powder on a boy’s lunch in the cafeteria.”

Loki turned to Sam. “Why?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. 

“He was stealing the smaller kid’s lunch money. Including mine. I didn’t fight him because I remembered what you said about fighting but he shouldn’t get to enjoy his food while other people go hungry.”

Loki turned back to the principal. “Well there you go then,” he said unconcerned. 

“That’s no excuse for his behavior,” the principal told him sternly. 

“How many reports have you gotten about this boy stealing lunch money?” Loki asked. 

“That is not the issue here,” she sputtered. 

“On the contrary. What Sam did will hopefully make him think twice about doing so in the future. If you feel the need to punish him I can’t stop you, but don’t expect me to.”

“What he did is against the rules regardless of his reasons for doing so. He will be suspended for the remainder of the day today and tomorrow. He can return to school on Monday.”

Loki shrugged. “Okay Sammy. Let’s go get some ice cream and then we can check out the new arcade.”

“I hardly think that’s appropriate,” the principal protested. 

“On the contrary. I teach my children to stand against injustice where they see it. From where I sit punishing them for it is inappropriate. Perhaps you should worry more about your bullying issue than those trying to help,” Loki said as he turned and walked out, hand on Sam’s shoulder. Maybe if he could get through to a few of these educators too, there wouldn’t be so much of a problem by the time they were adults and crossing Loki’s path. 

True to Loki’s word, he took Sam for ice cream and then to the arcade, but the next day Sam wanted to go to a museum instead, so Loki indulged him and even went into a lot more detail than the displays did at the museum. He told more than a few funny stories about events too and by the time they got home Sam had learned far more than he had all week at school. 

Sam went back to school Monday and it was Wednesday before Loki got another phone call. This time it was about Dean so he made his way to the high school to be met with the headmaster and a smirking Dean. “There have been a rash of pranks over the last week and a half against many of the football players and we have finally caught the culprit. We can’t punish him for the other pranks because we have no proof, but he was caught red-handed today, spraying vegetable oil on the floor in front of someone’s locker.”

“Sorry Lo. I fumbled the bottle,” Dean said with a sheepish shrug. 

“Ok. So, why?” Loki had a pretty good idea of why, having listened to Dean complain about the bullies before but he wanted to hear him tell it in front of the administrator.

“The guy whose locker I got has a habit of picking on the smart kids. Yesterday, he shoved one of them down and kicked her books around the hall while she scrambled after them, bleeding from her nose where she hit the floor.”

Loki raised an eyebrow. He hadn’t heard that particular story. “So not only did he attack, injure, and humiliate another student, but a girl at that, and yet he’s still here at school and you’re being punished for a simple prank in response to his heinous actions?” 

“That about sums it up, yep,” Dean said smugly. 

“And you don’t see an issue with this?” he asked the administrator. 

“There is no proof that anything of the sort happened,” he said haughtily. 

Loki turned back to Dean. “How many students witnessed that?” 

“I don’t know. Maybe thirty. Some of them were his friends so they’ll lie, but I know for a fact that at least ten of them reported it.”

“And how many people saw you with the bottle of vegetable oil?” 

“Two,” Dean said getting where Loki was going with this. 

“So between ten and thirty witnesses aren’t enough to punish someone who did something truly criminal, and yet two are plenty to punish a childish prank? Is this really the type of school you are running here?” 

“I do not need you to criticize the running of my school. I simply need you to take your hooligan in hand.”

“Hooligan? Really?” Loki laughed long and hard. “Is he suspended?” 

“For the rest of the week.”

“Alright Deano. Let’s ‘get you in hand’. What say we hit the house of pie for lunch and then the batting cages. Tomorrow we can go to the fair and then Friday when your brother gets out of school we’ll head to the beach for the weekend.”

“Sounds good to me,” Dean said cheerfully sending a smug grin back to the headmaster who was just sputtering. 

The next morning also found video footage of the event that Dean witnessed, that Loki had pulled from the teen’s mind, being played on the news station along with the story that the school was covering it up. That was all Loki had to do before the news station was being flooded with calls from parents of victimized students who’d been fobbed off. One of a girl who had committed suicide due to the harassment she’d experienced. By the time they got back from the beach in time for school Monday morning, the entire administration had been suspended and there substitutes from the school board in place. “And that, Deano, is how someone gets their just desserts,” Loki said with a wink.


	6. Chapter 6

A few months and five new towns later, two more schools had their administration and teaching staff completely gutted, many more had a greater appreciation for the bullying issues at their schools, and Loki had no issues keeping the boys’ records scrubbed from their many suspensions. Moreover, Loki found that he was having a great deal of fun with this whole parenting thing. Far more than he’d expected to have. He was actually hoping that they would stick around after the year was up. They were getting much better about not getting caught though so that was a good thing. He was completely caught off guard at the question Dean asked him one night though. “Hey Loki. I don’t suppose it would be possible for us to get some kind of powers like yours. Or not even as much as yours probably, but a little bit maybe?” 

Loki blinked at him for a moment as he considered it. He couldn’t give them powers permanently, but he could give them little bits at a time. “I don’t think you’re ready for that level yet kiddo. Maybe someday.” He saw the look on Dean’s face that was at once disappointed and hopeful and he decided to throw the kid a bone. “I’ll tell you what. We can move up a bit. Here,” he tossed the boy two small round objects. “Be careful with those. You don’t want to set them off.”

“What are they?” Dean asked curiously. 

Sam had walked in the room just as Loki tossed them to Dean so he tossed Sam a couple too. “The pink one is a glitterbomb. The grey one is a stinkbomb. They can be rigged to go off just as someone opens their locker so it not only gets all their stuff, but it gets them too. C’mere. Let me show you how it works.”

“This will be perfect for Marissa,” Sam said with a predatory grin. He was getting rather good at that particular look. 

“Marissa?” Loki asked curiously. The younger boy didn’t often target girls whether they deserved it or not. 

“There’s another girl at school, Jessie, she’s kinda heavy and she sweats a lot. Marissa is always teasing her about her weight and her smell. It gets really bad. Jessie spends a lot of time crying in the bathroom.”

Loki matched Sam’s predatory grin. “Yes. The stink bomb would be perfect for her then.” 

“And I’ll use a glitter bomb on Jason. He’s always calling other guys fairies if they aren’t as tough as he is.”

“You boys are getting better,” Loki said proudly. 

Loki still didn’t give them any powers though. Not until the year had passed and they had elected to stay with him. He gave them both a minor burst of power and cautioned them to use it wisely. It seemed that having powers, even such limited ones as he had given them, made it far easier for them not to get caught. The bullies and jerks got their comeuppance and no one got into any trouble, leaving Loki with far more free time to deal with his own tricks on the adult members of the community. 

After Dean turned eighteen and graduated, he wanted to stick around with Loki. He had gotten even more into the whole team idea and Loki had to admit that it was growing on him. He’d always lived a solitary existence and hadn’t even realized how lonely he’d been until the Winchester boys had come into his life. He waited until Sam was sixteen though before he made a suggestion. “So you know how I’ve been giving you little bits of power to use?” He got nods from both boys. “There is a way for you to draw a little more directly on my power, but only if you want to do it. I would, more or less, adopt you into my family, magically speaking.”

“So we wouldn’t be human anymore?” Dean asked.

“No. You wouldn’t be. You would be more like demi-gods. True tricksters.”

“How is that different from what you are?” Sam asked.

“I am a full god, not a demi-god. I have more power and abilities than you would,” Loki told them. This method was long used by the pagans to bring others into the fold. Usually only the most honored of priests and priestesses. It would also only give them access to the pagan part of his powers while still keeping the other part…the secret part…locked away. 

“Why now?” Dean asked curiously. They had been with him for four years now after all. 

“This is a big decision to make and I wanted to give you both the option at the same time so I wanted Sam to be old enough to make this kind of decision,” Loki explained. “Take your time and think about it. I don’t need an answer now.”

“Would I still go to school?” Sam asked. 

“That would be up to you kiddo. Just like always,” Loki told him. 

“I’ll think about it,” Sam said seriously. 

“Me too,” Dean said. He was more hung up on the not being human part. It seemed that some part of his father’s lifelong brainwashing had stuck, despite the fact that Loki had more than taken any place John Winchester may have held in his life. 

Part of Loki hoped they took him up on it. It would definitely make things easier on him. He wasn’t able to give them enough power to modify people’s memories or anything so he was doing that for all three of them. The other part of him though, hoped they wouldn’t. He still had their destinies to think of and anything that permanent would interfere with that. Not that he wanted their destinies to come to pass. He was rather attached to them by now after all. If it could lead back to him though, that would be very bad. Basically, he was ok with whatever they decided, even if it meant he had to go a little deeper underground for a few hundred years. 

Over the next few weeks, he often noticed the two of them in huddles discussing what Loki presumed was his offer. It was nearly a month after the initial offer that they had some more questions for him. “What kind of powers would we have if we did this?”

“You could bend reality, create dimensions, manifest things, and most of the things that I can do, but on a slightly smaller scale. Your teleportation will be a little different than mine and slightly uncomfortable.” They couldn’t know that he didn’t usually use his pagan teleportation preferring to fly instead. “You won’t be able to play with time either except within the dimensions you create.” Once again they couldn’t know that his wasn’t a pagan power but an angelic one. 

“And we would be immortal?” Dean asked not entirely sure how he felt about that. 

“Immortal yes, but not invulnerable. The stakes that hunters use that don’t kill me would kill you since they are designed to kill demi-gods not gods, but other than that you’d be good.”

“So we could be shot, stabbed with anything but the stake anywhere but the heart, beheaded, dropped in acid, hardened in cement…” 

“Yes, none of that would kill you, though the acid might hurt. Never managed to test that one,” Loki jumped in before Sam could come up with any other weird ways to die. 

“And we wouldn’t get sick or catch any diseases?” Dean asked. 

“Nope.” 

Sam and Dean looked at each other and nodded. “We’ll do it,” They said in unison. 

Gabriel grinned at them. “Perfect. We’ll take care of it on the next full moon.” If he was going to manage to pull this off without accidentally getting his angelic powers involved, he needed to do it at the time when his pagan powers were at their peak. He had quite a few things to gather for the ritual as well. Just cleansing his blood from all angelic traces would be difficult. 

The full moon came two weeks later and found both boys standing in the center of a ritual circle in a clearing in the forest. They were holding their arms gingerly to their sides, trying not to let their nerves show and also not antagonize the snakes that were wrapped around their arms, heads on their shoulders or the foxes sitting at their feet. Loki stood in the circle with them holding up a large chalice filled with his blood as he chanted in old Norse before handing the chalice to each of them in turn. 

They technically had to change their names as well, but Loki intended to continue calling them by their original names. Their new names would just be used in rituals if they were to do any. “I welcome you Destin into my clan by my blood and my name.” He passed the chalice to Dean who sipped it, trying and failing not to wrinkle his nose at the taste before he took a knee. “Rise Destin of Loki.” Then he turned to Sam. “I welcome you Stian into my clan by my blood and my name.” Sam sipped of the chalice and took a knee as well. “Rise Stian of Loki.” He wasn’t referring to them as sons or brothers or by any familial terms and so was breaking with custom, but he didn’t care. He was never much for rules anyway and he didn’t want to force them into any specific roles. They still had plenty of time to figure out how they all fit together.


	7. Chapter 7

Over the next few years the three of them learned to work very well together and became the best of friends. Loki knew that it couldn’t last forever. Eventually the Winchester’s fate would settle on them, but for now at least, he enjoyed the company. This was usually such a solitary life that it was nice to share it with others for a while. Maybe if they didn’t make it through their trials he would find another human or two to join up with in the same way. Loki had no idea how their new powers would change things as far as the impending apocalypse was concerned. 

Sam had just turned nineteen and Dean was twenty-three when they attracted the attention of some hunters. Now this was nothing new. It happened fairly regularly. More regularly than it had when Loki was working alone even since three tricksters working the same town tended to be a little more obvious to those who knew to look for such things. This time was different though. He called the boys home. They had a decision to make. “Okay kiddies,” Loki began causing them both to roll their eyes. They were hardly kids anymore, but Loki had made it clear that they would always be kids compared to him so he would call them whatever he wanted. “We got a couple hunters on our trail again.”

“So what else is new?” Dean asked wondering why that was a concern all of a sudden. 

“One of those hunters in John Winchester,” Loki said raising an eyebrow at them wondering what they wanted to do. He had definitely considered the possibility that this day might come, but judging by the expressions on their faces they hadn’t. “We can just bail town, or we can do business as usual and hide your identities, or we can do a big confrontation, or any combination of those,” he laid out the options. 

“Give us a sec?” Dean asked getting a nod from Loki as he disappeared to give them some privacy to consider their options. While he was gone he went ahead and took care of the next guy on the list a few hours ahead of schedule. He was one of the worst and didn’t want to end up missing him if they had to skip town. Once he was little more than a smear between the no non-existent elephant’s toes, Loki headed back to the apartment to find two stone faces looking at him. 

“Business as usual, but during the whole boss fight at the end, we confront him instead,” Sam said. 

“Excellent!” Loki said cheerfully. That was his preferred choice as well. 

After that everything went according to plan. It took three days for the hunters to find them and Loki had the final confrontation all set up in a deserted movie theatre. He was sitting in center of the theatre, feet propped up on the seat in front of him, munching on some caramel popcorn when he sensed two people entering. They had done so completely silent; he’d give them that. They could definitely be stealthy. They couldn’t hide from him though. “John Winchester. So nice to see you again,” he said with a falsely kind voice carrying an icy tone. 

“If I had seen you before I would have killed you then,” the man snarled seeing that the thing not only knew they were there, but knew his name, there was no point to stealth anymore. 

“Oh that’s right. I had to bail town early after I quite literally stumbled across a kid in an alley nearly beaten to death. I did leave you a little parting gift though, since I couldn’t meet you in person. I do hope it made up for my horrendous manners.”

Bobby Singer looked on curiously, wondering what was going on here and what kind of past these two could have while he worked his way around the edges of the room trying to get into a position to flank the trickster. 

“What have you done with my sons?” John asked heatedly. 

“What have ‘I’ done with them? Why, I saved them. From you. Well I saved Sam. He was nearly dead when I found him. Deano likely would have been fine on his own, but didn’t want to leave his little brother so I graciously allowed them both to stick around. In fact, they have a few things to say to you too. Boys?” 

The air behind Loki shimmered and Sam and Dean appeared standing on either side of Loki, each with a hand on his shoulder, facing the back of the room where their father was. They could sense Bobby behind and to the right, but he wasn’t their concern. “Hello, John,” Dean sneered, refusing to give the man the satisfaction of a title. 

“This is a trick,” John said. 

“Nope,” Sam said smugly. “Not a trick. You left me for dead, but I was found by someone who was a far better dad than you could ever hope to be. He even adopted us.”

“Then he’s tricked you to make you think I hurt you,” John tried. 

Sam snorted derisively. “If I didn’t know him so well, I might actually buy that if it weren’t for the fact that you’d been beating me for years. Blaming me for everything that went wrong. For my mother’s death. For simply existing. No. That was no trick. You went too far.”

Bobby was just standing there not really sure what to think. No one had made any aggressive moves yet, which was strange. What was even stranger was the fact that this trickster was acting like he hadn’t a care in the world while there were two hunters here with stakes. That alone made him think that maybe the boys were really there and he knew they had the numbers advantage. If the boys were really there, did that mean that they were telling the truth? It wasn’t that he doubted that John Winchester was capable of such a thing. He wouldn’t put anything past the man, and if he’d ever had anything other than a vague suspicion he would have killed him himself. The fact that the information was coming from a trickster though made him think twice. 

He knew that John would have realized that Sam and Dean were really there too, which is why his next move blew any remaining doubts out of Bobby Singer’s head. John Winchester had been stepping slowly towards his sons, who had moved slightly away from the other trickster during the process of the conversation, and he ended up just a few feet away from Sam and a few more away from Dean when he surged forward to drive the stake through his youngest son’s heart. Bobby gave up his cover and jumped out yelling, “No!”

He needn’t have worried though. Loki had been watching carefully, even if he hadn’t considered that possibility. Loki was plenty quick enough to fly in front of the stake before it even touched Sam and it drove through Loki’s heart instead. Sam and Dean cried out in distress and Sam caught Loki as he crumbled to the floor and Dean threw out a hand throwing his father across the room and pinning him, unarmed to the wall, by means of a giant octopus who had more than enough suction to hold him there. Dean spun then to look at Bobby, eyes narrowed. “Do I have to do you too?” 

Bobby held up his hands in surrender and went to sit warily a respectful distance away. He was no fool. He wasn’t about to get involved in a fight he couldn’t win, and he was beginning to suspect that he didn’t have the whole picture here. He wanted information, and monsters or not, he wanted to catch up with his boys, so he would play nice for the time being. 

Sam pulled the stake out of Loki’s heart. “You okay Lo?” he asked worriedly. 

“Just peachy, Samsquatch. You know those things can’t kill me,” Loki reminded him. 

“No but I know how bad they hurt,” Sam said pointedly. “Why the hell didn’t you use a clone?” 

“They aren’t a hundred percent reliable as you well know. I wasn’t gonna take a chance with your life kiddo. The stake ‘can’ kill you if you’ll remember,” Loki told him as he managed to sit back up with a little help. Sam pulled him to his feet and helped him into the nearest chair. 

“I don’t care that it can’t kill you, it scares the hell out of me every time you get yourself stabbed,” Sam said annoyed. 

“Oh come on. This is only the third time they’ve got me instead of a clone. You act like it happens all the time,” Loki said rolling his eyes. 

“Yeah well. That’s still more than enough.”

Loki reached up and patted Sam’s cheek affectionately. “Don’t worry kiddo. I’m good.”

Bobby was now certain that it wasn’t a trick. This was far too much trouble to go to for a trick and why would this thing reveal that the stake wouldn’t kill him? Dean hadn’t taken his eyes off of Bobby since he’d sat down and Bobby could definitely tell a protective stance when he saw one. “So I’m thinking I don’t have all the information I should have had,” he said as he made his presence known.


	8. Chapter 8

Dean sat down facing Bobby, with Loki and Sam at his back. He knew that Bobby wouldn’t hurt him or Sam, but he might hurt Loki, and Dean wasn’t taking any chances. At least not until Loki had completely recovered from the last blow. “What do you want to know?” he asked. He’d be lying if he said that he hadn’t hoped to see Bobby again one day. He knew full well how hunters thought though. At least he thought he did. He always took his father’s stance as the one most common to hunters. 

“Your father said that a vamp killed Sam and you took off right after and blamed him,” Bobby told him. They were both pointedly ignoring the yells of the man being molested by the octopus. 

“No. He nearly killed Sam. What were his injuries again Loki?” Dean called back. 

Loki had himself together again so came up to sit next to Dean, Sam still hovering behind him. He trusted Bobby a lot more than he trusted his father, but one betrayal was enough for the day. “Fractured skull, broken nose, cracked jaw, dislocated shoulder, three broken ribs, punctured lung, serious internal bleeding, and his leg was broken in three places. Kid still managed to drag himself by his good arm a block and a half towards the hospital though. Impressed the hell out of me,” Loki said proudly. 

Bobby just looked between them as he tried to come to terms with that. He’d seen people die with far less. “How did he survive? I know tricksters can’t heal,” Bobby asked suspiciously. “For that matter how did you survive the stake?” 

“I’m no simple trickster, old man. I am the trickster god. Loki, at your service,” he bowed with a flourish. “The kiddos here, they’re just your normal run of the mill tricksters. As a god, I can give out demi-god status.”

“So the stake would have killed Sam if you hadn’t taken it instead,” Bobby guessed. 

“Bingo.”

“Thank you,” Bobby said sincerely. 

Loki narrowed his eyes thoughtfully at the old hunter. “You’re different.”

“Different from what?” Bobby asked gruffly. 

“From most hunters I’ve met. They always just see the black and white. You see grey,” Loki said. 

“Well yeah. World ain’t black and white,” Bobby said as though it should be obvious. “Still. Killing people ain’t right,” he said in a warning tone. He was willing to forgive this being a lot for what he’d done for those boys, but there was a line, and he didn’t want them corrupted any more than they already had been, even if all he could offer was that. 

“I completely agree with you,” Loki said getting nods from both of the brothers as well and a look of confusion from the old hunter. 

“That’s why the only people we kill are the ones who kill others and have no intention of stopping as long as they live,” Sam chimed in. 

“We only kill when killing saves more lives than it takes,” Dean finished. 

“What they said,” Loki said smugly. “The rest just get taught a lesson about their behavior.” 

“You remember that time I accidentally dropped the guy from the tower when I was just supposed to be scaring him?” Dean asked with a twitch of his lips. 

“I remember. I was almost too late to heal him,” Loki said disgruntled. 

“I think that was the closest I’ve ever seen you to being really mad,” Sam said. 

“You even took my powers for a month,” Dean said with a chuckle. 

“Yeah, well, you deserved it. You let yourself get distracted,” Loki said defensively. He really hated being a disciplinarian and being called out on it just made it worse. It made him seem almost…responsible…he barely suppressed a shudder at the thought. Of course that was why they kept bringing it up. 

They had another reason to bring it up now though. They wanted to prove to Bobby that they weren’t just monsters; mindless killers. They put thought into it and didn’t kill unless it was necessary. It worked too. Bobby got it. “I don’t like it. But I get it. Sometimes people just need killing,” he reluctantly admitted. “Now one more question. What the hell did you do to that piece of scum,” he cocked his thumb towards where John was still hanging on the wall. “After what happened with Sam? I had to go pick him up and deal with his bitching and whining for months.”

Loki snorted derisively. “I suppose sometimes my punishments can take unintended victims,” Loki said with a nod towards Bobby. That was the closest he would ever come to an actual apology and the old hunter took it as such. “I made him feel all the injuries that he had given Sam, and made sure they would heal at the same rate they would have on Sam, if I hadn’t found him and he’d survived of course.”

“Just desserts huh. Fitting,” Bobby said approvingly. “Should have left his ass there,” he grumbled to himself. 

“Probably would have been wise, yes,” Loki said amused. After a few minutes of silence Loki said, “So what now? Do we get back to our positions and play out the final boss fight?”

Bobby huffed a laugh. “Would it matter? I have nothing that would kill you even if I were so inclined right now.”

“Yes it matters. That’s my favorite part!” Loki protested. 

Bobby looked at him like he was nuts and then looked back and forth between Sam and Dean as if to ask if the god was really serious. When he came to the realization that he was Bobby just sighed and said, “Ok then how about you let that loose and play your little game while I go over here and catch up with my boys.”

Loki gave a little grimace. “I don’t know that I’d be able to resist killing him.”

“You won’t get any complaints from me if you do,” Bobby said grabbing an arm on each of the boys and pulling them to a corner. He knew better than to try to leave with them, but he wanted to keep them out of the line of fire in case John came for them again instead of Loki. He meant what he’d told the deity. He wouldn’t be upset if John ‘accidentally’ died tonight. Truth was he didn’t know if he’d fare any better than Loki at not killing him. 

Loki went back to his seat, back facing John Winchester again, the ultimate insult for a hunter, and snapped his finger making the octopus disappear and the hunter fall to the ground. “Last chance to leave Winchester,” he said adopting a lazy tone. 

“Like hell I will,” the hunter snarled, picking his stake up off the ground, only to find his path to the god blocked by a giant sumo wrestler. He tried to attack but the guy wouldn’t budge so he tried to go around him only to find his way blocked by another who lifted him up and squeezed. He felt his ribs break from the force. 

Suddenly Loki was standing next to him. “Okay. Put him down. We don’t want to kill him too soon. We’re not done playing yet.”

John, broken ribs and all was still very fast and before anyone could blink he spun and had the stake embedded in Loki’s chest. He had been far enough away during their conversation that he didn’t know that it wouldn’t kill him and just assumed that he’d missed the heart last time. He knew that he didn’t make any such mistake this time as the god choked and managed to look astonished that the hunter could actually take him out. As the lifeless body hit the floor, three tricksters and an old hunter found themselves standing in a spacious apartment, the tricksters all snickering. 

“So that’s how you get hunters off your trail huh?” Bobby asked wryly. 

“You gonna go around spilling my secret old man?” Loki asked amusedly. 

“How many of the stories going around of killing tricksters have been you pretending to be dead?” Bobby asked in return. 

“From this continent? All of them,” Loki said smugly. 

“Figures,” Bobby said rolling his eyes. “Secret’s safe with me long as you keep taking care of these boys.”

“We’re not kids anymore, Bobby,” Dean said rolling his eyes. 

“That don’t matter none. Ever’body needs lookin’ after.”

“And who looks after you?” Sam asked pointedly. Bobby just ignored the question so Sam handed him a slip of paper. “Here are our numbers. You need anything call. We can be there in a second from anywhere in the world.”

“And feel free to call sometimes even if you don’t need anything,” Dean chimed in before they both found themselves wrapped in a hug from the old hunter. 

Bobby then turned to Loki. “So John survived,” he said. 

“For now,” Loki said. “He has a few broken ribs, one of which punctured a lung. If he has half as much strength as Sammy here did at 12 he can make it out to the street to get help in time to live. If not, he’ll die choking on his own blood. It’s up to him.”

Bobby gave him a respectful nod and held out a hand to shake. Loki gave a smug grin and took it, only for Bobby to give a little shake as he got electrocuted. The three tricksters all laughed as Loki said, “Sometimes the oldies still have a little life in them.”

Bobby suddenly found himself standing next to his car, just a block down from the theatre and shook his head. He should have expected no less. He thought for a minute about going to check on John and see if he’d managed to get help, but decided against it. If he wanted help he could find it himself like he’d left Sam to do all those years ago.


	9. Chapter 9

“Well that was dramatic,” Loki drawled, plopping lazily on the couch. 

“So sorry to inconvenience you,” Dean said rolling his eyes, not taking it personally. He knew how Loki felt about drama. At least when he was a part of it and not the one causing it.

Loki knew the boys had needed that closure though, and they had gotten another figure from their past life back. Maybe the old man could help them when he couldn’t, because Loki knew that it was coming and he had no intention of being a meat shield between them and his brothers. He would be destroyed and then his boys would be dancing to their tune either way. It served nothing for him to get involved. He had been torn on whether he should warn them, but decided with this new development, now was a good time. “It’s good that you have another friend. A human hunter at that.”

“Yeah. I’m glad that he’s so accepting, but it seems like you mean more than that,” Sam said suspiciously. 

“I haven’t told you boys this before, but you have a destiny. One I put a bit of a wrench in by making you demi-gods, but that won’t stop what’s coming and I won’t be able to help you anymore. I’ve given you a leg up with your powers, but when the shit hits the fan, I gotta disappear.”

“You mean abandon us?” Sam asked hurt. 

“What kind of destiny?” Dean asked at the same time. 

“They just want to use you. They can and will completely destroy me without a second thought. When I say disappear I don’t just mean on you. I will have to go so deep underground that no one or nothing will even know I exist. I’m glad you’ll have someone else to turn to when that time comes.”

“So we’ll never see you again?” Sam asked sadly. 

“If you manage to finish derailing the destiny laid out for you and escape their plans, I’ll come find you,” Loki said with a sad smile. 

“Who is they and what destiny?” Dean asked getting annoyed. 

“The angels, demons, archangels, and Lucifer is the they and they plan to use you to bring about the apocalypse and destroy this world, and humanity.”

“We would never!” Sam protested. 

“I know you wouldn’t. Not willingly. I have faith in you boys. Really. I hope you win. But I can’t be a part of it.” 

“Will you…say goodbye before you go at least?” Sam asked. 

“If at all possible then yes,” Loki promised. 

Neither of them were going to make a big fuss about Loki staying out of it. If he was right, then they weren’t in danger of dying and Loki was. Neither of them would ever forgive themselves if Loki were killed for them. 

Over the next few years, they kept in sporadic contact with Bobby, but other than that their lives continued on as normal. The idea of Loki leaving them was never far from their minds though. Sam was the most distraught about it, but that was to be expected. Loki had raised him. Had been his constant companion for nearly half his life. Dean had a lot more time on his own before Loki came along, not that he wasn’t affected too. 

Loki had often caught Sam watching him like he was going to disappear, and he could tell that the youngest trickster was worried that he would do so without a word, which is why he was very determined to be able to give that word. When he felt Azazel on the move again, he knew it was time for him to go and he called the boys in. “It’s time,” was all he said. 

Sam bit his lip and could feel the tears welling up in his eyes and tried to take a moment to pull himself together. That gave Dean the first chance to say goodbye and he swept Loki up in a hug that would have crushed him had he been human. “Be safe, Lo. We’ll win. I promise. And then things can go back to the way they are.”

“You be safe too, Deano. Always be careful and just remember everything I’ve taught you,” Loki said. He was never much for the emotional moments. He would have preferred to just disappear, but he wouldn’t do that to them. Especially not to Sam. After a moment, Dean let Loki go and turned to leave. 

Sam took the opportunity to take his place. He crushed Loki tightly against him. “You were the best dad I could ever have asked for. And the best friend. I won’t rest until we have this back,” he said heartbrokenly. 

“I believe in you, Samshine. Always have. We’ll be back together one day,” Loki said softly. 

Sam nodded, face pressed against Loki’s neck, now moist from Sam’s tears. Sam took a deep breath and gathered his courage before he pulled back slightly and pressed his lips to Loki’s. It was gentle and chaste, but it lingered for a long moment, as Loki’s lips molded to his and the deity’s hand moved to cup the side of his face. Sam pulled back after a moment and gave a sad smile. “Just in case this is really the end.”

Loki returned the smile, with just as much sadness and said, “Goodbye Sam. Be careful and be safe. I…goodbye.” Loki pressed one more short chaste kiss to Sam’s lips and then disappeared before he found himself unable to leave.


	10. Chapter 10

It was only a few weeks later before Sam suddenly woke up in a different place than where he’d gone to sleep. He had to figure out where he was before he could teleport away though so he got up and started walking. It wasn’t long before he ran into someone else. He could practically smell the fear coming off of the short man. When he started demanding answers of Sam, he could feel the power washing over him. “Your powers won’t work on me. And I don’t have anything to do with this. I’m just trying to figure out where we are so I can get out of here,” Sam told him. 

The man narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Sam who just rolled his. He knew that he could be intimidating what with his size and now with the fact that those powers wouldn’t work on him. “You’re really not behind this?” Sam shook his head. “I’m Andy,” the guy said holding out his hand. 

“Sam,” he said while shaking it. He could sense something different about this guy and it took him a moment to place it. He had a trace of demon blood in him just like Sam had before the ritual that made him a trickster. Maybe that was what they had in common. About that time, they heard a blood-curdling scream followed by а loud banging sound. They followed it to a closed door and Sam snatched it open, his demi-god strength more than a match for the padlock. A small, seemingly panicked young woman practically fell on him. 

Sam narrowed his eyes as she was babbling. He wasn’t buying it for a second. He could see how evil she was. It was like it was seeping out of her pores. She had killed. A lot. And very recently. She was the type of person he wouldn’t hesitate to take out of the picture under normal circumstances, but this situation was far from normal. “Enough,” he barked at her and her eyes widened and she became silent. He could see the tears welling up in her eyes. 

“Dude, come on,” Andy said looking at her sympathetically as he started to reach for her to comfort her. 

Sam pressed him back behind him though. Andy was innocent. He wouldn’t let her hurt him. “I’m not buying your little act. What are we doing here?” 

“You can’t really think that she…” Andy started to say before Sam glared at him to shut up. 

“I…I don’t…know…I’m…I didn’t do this,” she sobbed. 

“Bullshit,” Sam said. “You can’t lie to me. Maybe you’re not behind it, but you know more than you’re saying. I can see the lies just as easily as I can see the evil pouring off of you. How many people have you killed? Twenty? Thirty?” 

Her demeanor completely changed as she dropped the act, seeing as how she wasn’t going to fool him apparently. “Forty-five actually,” she said smugly. “That’s rather the point of this whole thing. I don’t know who’s behind it really, but it’s a death match. Last one standing moves on to the next round, and I’m the reigning champion and this is the finale.” 

Andy gasped and took another step back away from her, realizing that Sam was right and wondering how he had known. Maybe Sam had powers like he did. She caught his eye and gave an evil smirk and started after him. Might as well take the easy prey first before moving on to the tougher part. Before she made it two steps though, she found herself sitting on the ground with snakes wound all around her tying her up and judging by the sounds they were making, they weren’t very happy with it. 

Her eyes widened again, this time with genuine fear. “What are you?” 

“I’m a demi-god. Looks like they want you to lose, but I only kill murderers, so looks like you get the short end of the stick huh?” Sam was almost certain that whoever was behind this was the same demon that had given him blood as a baby, and nearly as certain that his change in status was unknown. About that time two other people came around the corner and took in the sight nervously. Sam leveled his gaze on them. He saw death clinging to both of them, but neither of them were truly guilty. 

The boy, because he was barely more than that, held up his hands in surrender. “I don’t like to kill people. I just have to follow orders. I have to kill to protect.” Sam took in the uniform and knew what he was talking about. He had no intention of holding him at fault. Wars weren’t his business. 

The girl was also terrified. “I didn’t mean to kill anyone. I just…I can’t control this power. I…I’m s-sorry,” she sobbed. 

Sam’s heart broke for her as he looked a little closer and could see that her power involved deadly electric currents running through her hands. He snapped his fingers, a habit that he had picked up from Loki, and handed her a pair of gloves that would block all electricity and were also quite comfortable. “Here. These will fix your problem. Just don’t take them off,” he told her gently. “I said I kill murderers, not soldiers and not innocents,” he looked at the girl for that last part to make sure that she knew that he was talking about her. He couldn’t imagine what he would feel if he were cursed with something like that and inadvertently hurt people. 

He turned back to the girl tied up with snakes. “She has murdered forty-five people in cold blood by her own admission,” Sam said glaring at her.

“Then…why are we here?” the soldier asked, assuming that Sam was behind it. 

“I don’t know. I was brought here same as you,” Sam said with a shrug. “According to her, we’re supposed to be in a free for all death match until only one of us survives, but I have no intention of doing so.”

The remaining three people gave sighs of relief. If this guy really was a demi-god, there was no way he wouldn’t win after all. “So…if you’re a demi-god…why did they bring you here? And can’t you get out?” Andy asked curiously. 

“I don’t think they knew I was a demi-god. I can sense the powers you all have and how you got them. The same thing was done to me as a baby and that’s likely why I’m here. All that was burned out of me though when I underwent the ritual to become a demi-god. They probably didn’t realize that. And yes I can get out of here once I figure out where here is and I’d be glad to take you with me,” he offered. “I’m Sam, by the way.”

Jake and Lily introduced themselves as well before Lily said, “The demi-god Sam?” she asked trying to hide her amusement. 

Sam chuckled. “My formal name is Stian. I just go by the name I had when I was human which is Sam.”

“So you used to be human?” Jake asked confused. “How did you…” he trailed off. 

“I was hurt pretty badly as a child and a god found me and healed me. When he found out that it was my father that had hurt me, he took me in and when I was sixteen he made me a demi-god,” Sam explained. He didn’t want them to think it was some side effect or progression of their powers. 

“So…um…maybe we should figure out where we are so we can get out of here?” Andy suggested. 

“Right,” Sam said as he turned to walk away, followed by the others. 

“Wait! You can’t just leave me here!” Ava called from her place on the ground. 

“You’re right. If you get loose there’s no telling how many more people you’ll kill,” Sam said with a cruel grin as he waved a hand and the snakes began to bite. One or two bites she could have survived with prompt medical attention, but twelve rattlesnake bites were far too much for the body to handle, even with the evil progression of her powers. Sam led the others away before the seizures started though. No one needed to see that. 

It took about thirty minutes before they were able to figure out where they were, and surprisingly enough, it was an old bell that helped them figure it out. Once Sam had a starting location, he snapped his fingers and they were all standing in a bus station where the others could head home from. “I can ward you against being found by demons,” he offered. “That way they can’t take you again.” Judging by what Loki had mentioned, and not mentioned, Sam didn’t think the angels were involved at this stage of the game and he couldn’t ward against angels anyway. Only Loki could do that, and he was gone now anyway. 

He got hesitant nods from the three of them and brushed a hand over each of their foreheads. A strong enough demon could get through it, but he knew they were just pawns in this game. He was the queen. They would never stop coming for him, but these three could hopefully escape the madness.


	11. Chapter 11

Sam got back to find a nearly frantic Dean looking for him and when he explained everything that had happened, Dean too realized that this was the play they had been expecting. They both knew that it wasn’t over though, and sure enough it was only a few days before Sam was tracked down by the yellow-eyed demon John had spent most of their lives obsessed with. “Sammy, Sammy, Sammy. I must admit. You caught me off guard. How did you manage to get everyone out of there without tripping any of my little traps?”

“You must have underestimated me,” Sam said with a smirk. He was nowhere near powerful enough to kill a demon, but he was plenty powerful enough to hurt him, destroy his meatsuit, and send him back to hell.

“Perhaps. You have certainly exceeded my wildest expectations. You didn’t technically live up to your end of the bargain by killing everyone, but since you did kill the champion, I suppose we can call you the winner. It really was quite a ruthless death. You are to be congratulated. I never considered that the mind control aspect of the powers I gave you would allow you to control animals. I must congratulate you on that wonderful idea. Now I have a little job for you.”

Sam’s smirk grew wider. “I was never playing your game Azazel. I was playing my own. I killed her because she was a murderer. The rest were innocent and set free. And I never used the powers you gave me for anything. In fact, if you’ll look closely you’ll see not a trace of demon blood in my system. I used my own powers, and I have no interest in working for you.”

“Your powers hmm?” Azazel said smugly looking a little more closely at the young man before his expression faltered. “You’re not…human,” he said confused. How could this have happened? He knew full well that the boy was the son of John and Mary Winchester, two humans, and he was certain that the boy had been human when they had met when he was a baby. 

“No. I’m not,” Sam said cruelly as he waved his hand and a blast of power threw the demon across the room. Sam sensed Azazel trying to teleport away and clenched his fist pulling him back to the ground. “You don’t think I’m going to give you a chance to run off and make a plan do you?” 

“You can’t kill me,” the demon said confidently. 

“You’re right. I can’t. But I can send you on a one way trip back to hell. Oh sure, one of these days you might manage to claw your way back up here, but that will be generations from now since all the hellgates are now closed for good.” As soon as Loki had told them of their existence Sam and Dean made sure to hit them all and add their own locks on the gates. Only with both of their participation could any of them be opened. 

“No. You can’t,” Azazel said in disbelief and more than a little fear. 

“Yes. I can,” Sam said cruelly stamping out any hope the demon may still hold as he used both hands to throw a stream of power at the demon, vaporizing the long dead meatsuit and sending the demonic presence within him back down to hell.

Dean, as Sam had asked, had been standing back and letting his brother handle it, but ready to step in if things had gotten out of hand. He walked up behind Sam and clapped a hand on his shoulder. “You good Sammy?” 

Sam nodded. He was glad that it was over and was anxiously awaiting Loki’s return. After a few weeks he realized that Loki wasn’t coming back. His first thought was one of insecurity, thinking that it was because of the kiss, but then he realized that Loki had mentioned both demons and angels. They had gotten rid of the demonic part of the threat, but the angels would still be after them and neither of them had any idea how to go about getting the angels off their back. 

 

Loki had been watching them and he saw them end the demon that was after them as he swelled with pride. They had avoided the first part of the grand plan and essentially grounded the demons with the hellgate not being able to be opened. Loki knew the angels would notice before long and get in on the game and he had no idea what they would do. Sam and Dean were no match for a seraph, much less an archangel, but given the fact that they were now unsuitable as vessels as far as Michael would be concerned, it made for a pretty big wild card. Loki had used the original Loki as a vessel without a second thought, but as far as Michael was concerned, inhabiting a pagan would be unacceptably disgusting. 

Loki wasn’t sure if Lucifer would take what he could get or not, but given that the only way to get things back on track for Lucifer to be released would be with the interference of the angels under Michael’s control, he had no idea what his eldest brother would do. He had no doubt of what Raphael would do if given enough rope. He wouldn’t hesitate to destroy them both and then come hunting him. The question was whether Michael would give him that rope or keep him on a tight leash. Whether Michael would let things be, or go for revenge. 

Loki was very glad that he had been so exceedingly careful not to let any of his angelic grace touch the boys during the ritual. Otherwise his brothers would sense it and know that he was involved. As things currently stood though, he would be indistinguishable from any other pagan god. Sure there was always a chance that heaven would declare war on the pagans over the slight, but that didn’t concern him any. They had never liked him very much anyway, and certainly had never done anything to deserve his loyalty. Let them destroy each other if they must. As long as his boys were out of it. There was just as much a chance of the pagans destroying each other as soon as heaven’s gaze was upon them. They would likely all be blaming each other for the blasphemy. No one would consider the fact that Loki may be behind it. They all thought he was dead as well. 

Loki watched as they obviously expected him to come back after the demon threat was ended, and he dearly wanted to, but he had no idea when heaven’s attention would turn to them. When they would realize that their grand plan wasn’t working and check to see why. He could hide his true nature from any creature on the planet, even from his younger brothers with a bit of effort, but the other archangels would surely be able to see who and what he was if they caught a glimpse of him. Even the seraphs would if they caught him off-guard without his knowledge. 

He couldn’t stop thinking about the way Sam had kissed him when he’d said goodbye. It had been completely unexpected, but not necessarily unwelcome. Sam was a beautiful man, and he would be lying if he said that he didn’t feel something for him. Maybe, if they did manage to make it out of this mess, that could be explored. He had no idea what Sam had meant with it though. One chaste little kiss does not a relationship make. I could have meant nothing more than the young demi-god being caught up in an emotional moment, and that was exactly Loki’s problem. The fact that he didn’t know what it meant was driving him crazy. His innate curiosity had gotten him into trouble on more than one occasion, but this was far too serious to risk satisfying it. He wouldn’t risk his very existence for it. 

Despite the fact that he was as much pagan as archangel anymore, he still had no place in the pagan afterlife, unlike Dean and Sam. If he were killed, he would simply cease to exist, same as any angel. That was why he was so caught up on preserving himself. They would go on if they were killed. He wouldn’t and he found the prospect of non-existence terrifying.


	12. Chapter 12

Time went on and Sam and Dean got used to not having Loki in their lives. It never stopped stinging, especially for Sam, but they learned to work around and lived the way they always had. Moving from town to town and dishing out just desserts. It was two years after the destruction of Azazel before the two of them, sitting around watching tv, suddenly noticed a heavyset, balding man standing in their living room looking at them like they were particularly disgusting bugs on the bottom of his shoe. “What have you done?” he asked appalled. 

Both of them could sense the power rolling off of this being, and it wasn’t something they recognized. Logic told them that it must be an angel. “Well so far today, we’ve turned a homophobe into a girl and set a pack of dogs on a guy running a dogfighting ring. We figured we’d take the rest of the day off,” Dean said with an unconcerned shrug, knowing full well that wasn’t what the angel was asking. 

“Why you…” he lifted his hands ready to smite the offending ‘things’ sitting there with the gall to mock him.

Before he managed to lift his hands completely they were both gone. They reappeared standing behind him. “Oh come on. What did we ever do to you? You barge into our home and start demanding answers and then try to kill us? That’s not very polite,” Dean taunted. He didn’t want to let on that he knew they were wanted alive, so he would settle for giving the guy a chance to rethink his actions. 

Zachariah wanted so badly to wipe that smug smirk off this abomination’s face, but he knew that they were supposed to be the vessels. He had to tell Michael of this new development and let the archangel decide the next course of action. If he had continued with his impulsive smiting, he may very well have been on the receiving end of the next one. “You won’t get away with this,” he snarled as he disappeared. 

The brothers settled back onto the couch once they were alone again. “Guess it’s time for round two,” Sam said, unable to hide his grin. This would be the last obstacle and then Loki would be back in their lives. Or they would be dead, but he didn’t really want to consider that possibility. Either way though, it would be over. 

It was less than a day later when they had another visitor, this one looking eerily like John Winchester. In fact, they may have even considered the possibility that it was actually him had they not been able to feel the massive power exuding from him. More power than they had ever felt in anyone’s presence save Loki’s. This must be an archangel. Their momentary shock at his appearance had caused them not to notice the second visitor for a second. This one was a large black man with a cruel look on his face. The John Winchester look-a-like just looked constipated. “How did this happen?” he asked shocked. 

Sam and Dean had long discussed how to handle this moment when it eventually came and thus both of them played dumb. “What do you mean?” Sam asked cautiously. 

“You’re not human,” Raphael sneered distastefully. 

“Nope. We’re demi-gods. Your point?” Dean asked cheekily. 

“You’re supposed to be human,” Michael said still trying to wrap his head around all the different ways this development screwed up their plans. 

“Are we?” Sam asked feigning confusion. 

“This is not the way things are supposed to happen,” Michael said starting to get annoyed. 

“Things rarely happen the way they’re supposed to,” Dean pointed out smugly. 

Raphael snarled and raised his hands to smite them, but was stopped my Michael. “Wait brother. We need to consider this development.”

“What’s to consider? They are…unclean…unusable. Why bother letting them live?” Raphael asked heatedly. 

“Perhaps, but we have had a wary truce with the pagans for a very long time. They are obviously valued to have received such a gift. If we cannot use them anyway, perhaps it is not worth upsetting such a truce over their destruction.”

“You would let them get away with this?” Raphael asked moving quickly into furious. 

“It is unlikely that they knew what they were doing. They likely didn’t know that these were the vessels. If beginning a war over the matter would allow our plans to continue, I would not hesitate to do so, but given the fact that there is no way to undo this travesty, there is no reason for it.”

“You are a naïve fool, Michael,” Raphael snapped. 

The younger archangel suddenly found himself pinned against the wall gasping for breath as Sam and Dean watched on in amusement. “You watch how you speak to me Raphael. I am your superior and you would do well to remember it,” Michael hissed. Both demi-gods could see the brief flicker of fear in Raphael’s eyes before he managed to school his expression. Michael apparently saw the same because he slightly loosened his grip and continued. “Now all is not lost. There are still women of the Campbell line. Not of the main branch, but they will do, and John Winchester retains his ability to impregnate them. Come. We have a great deal of work to do,” Michael said as they both disappeared. 

Sam and Dean looked at each other with raised eyebrows. It seemed that they were completely forgotten about. “Do you think we should be offended that they intend to set Dad up with one of our aunts or cousins or something?” Dean asked not quite sure how he felt about that. 

“It’s none of our business,” Sam said with a shrug. “Not our problem.”

“Well said Samshine,” the most welcome voice Sam could ever have heard came from behind him. 

“Loki!” Sam cried happily spinning and grabbing the deity in a crushing hug. “You’re back!” 

“I told you I’d be back as soon as it was safe,” Loki said affectionately returning the hug, and wrapping one of his arms around Dean when he joined in. 

“We missed you,” Sam said cheerfully. “’I’ missed you,” he added hoping to make that distinction clear. 

Loki heard what Sam wasn’t saying. He wasn’t about to do anything about it while in a group hug with his brother as well though, so he waited until Dean pulled away and headed out to set up a nice little celebration. As soon as they were alone, Loki placed a hand on Sam’s cheek and looked into his eyes, looking for permission. When he saw nothing but honest hopefulness, he closed the distance between them, pressing his lips to Sam’s. When Sam pulled him close, Loki snaked out his tongue in an attempt to deepen the kiss and Sam opened quickly as they slowly explored each other in this new way. 

None of them were concerned with the fact that the apocalypse would still happen, just a few decades later. It wasn’t their problem. It wasn’t their fight. They would make sure that Bobby was kept safe as the only human they actually cared about, but other than that they didn’t give it a moment’s consideration. As far as they were concerned it was the natural course of things and they had no intention of taking any sides.


End file.
